Oil reaches $127.55 a barrel

[irishbobcat]

 Veggie Oils Can Power Diesel Cars

Malcolm Myers, Athens, OH

Have any idea what the first diesel engines used for power? Peanut oil. Rudolf Diesel designed them for a world that, at that point, had no petrochemical industry. Today that original engine has been changed so that it runs on an oil byproduct, diesel fuel. However, some car owners like Piper Avolika and Malcolm Myers of Athens, Ohio are converting diesel engines to run on a variation of that original fuel - vegetable oil, preferably used.

"I really just hate supporting the oil companies, and I know that oil is a limited resource, and I just wanted to be ahead of the game in that department instead of just complaining about how high gas prices are," says Avolikita.

"The fuel economy", says Malcolm Myers, "is about the same as gas. Basically, for every gallon of oil it is like a gallon of diesel fuel. And two of the environmental things about it, One is that people say it's a closed carbon cycle where if you are burning fossil fuels you're adding carbon into the system. Whereas the grease has already been processed so you're not adding any new carbon into the system but also - you are reusing a waste product. There are somewhat lower admissions than vegetable oil."

Vegetable oil is renewable - it's not a fossil fuel, so it doesn't contribute to global warming. By using vegetable oil as fuel, these two and thousands of others across the country, are making a positive environmental statement right where it matters the most. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body charged with assessing the scientific record on global warming. Carbon dioxide pollution from fossil fuel consumption is on the rise in the United States, increasing by 18 percent between 1990 and 2004. Forty percent of that increase comes from transportation.

Piper Avolikita, of Athens, Ohio converted his first car to run on used cooking oil several years ago. "I'm very happy with it. The car runs good, it doesn't produce any toxic fumes; I have my grease connections that will supply me with grease for as long as I want, so I'm not planning on changing any time soon." He and Myers get their oil free, from area restaurants that otherwise would pay someone to haul away their used cooking oil. "You want the non-hydrogenated oil," says Avolikita, "so generally you don't want fast food. Health food or Chinese food restaurants are generally the best, just like eating fast food, you car does not like the bad oil. It might have a heart attack."

These two have banded together with other veggie vehicle owners in Athens and come up with a cooperative approach to filtering the oil for their cars. They take part in a grease co-op at Ohio University's Ecohouse. It works on the honor system. Members can drop off say 5 gallons of oil and fill up on 5 gallons that has been run through a filtration system. "Otherwise you have to do it yourself, you have to pour it through filters, grease gets everywhere, this system's really clean, it works really well," claims Avolikita.

It's good for the car, the environment, and the pocketbook, they claim. So as gas prices continue to rise you may want to think about a veggie vehicle for your garage.


Dennis Spisak-Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60th District

http://votespisak.tripod.com

[Towntalk]

Yesterday, President Bush made a rare but accurate remark about oil:

"One interesting thing about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power and against expanding refining capacity."

As for the use of used cooking oil in diesel cars, where would that oil come from? Again as with Ethanol, it would have to come from farms that would otherwise be producing food crops. And what about the pollution factor? We already know that diesel oil is as great a pollution factor as regular gas, so imagine the pollution factor from used cooking oil.

What would be in environmental factor of reprocessing used cooking oil? We all know how stinky cooking oil is if it gets too hot, and would you really want to be riding behind a car whose exhaust smelled like French Fries, or Kentucky Fried Chicken?

I know from personal experienced what burnt cooking oil can do to a pot or pan, so what would it do to the engine of a $40,000 car?

[irishbobcat]

Let's start running diesel cars on used cooking oil...I heard chinese cooking oil works best.........

Dennis Spisak

[ytowner]

And to all of you who think I am in love with McCain, think again. We disagree very much on this issue.

1. He is against drilling in ANWAR; saying he is an environmentalist and wants to keep pristine and.. Here's a though Maverick; make it a national park or let us drill there. No one lives in ANWAR and many Alaskans support it, because it is a major boost to their economy.

2. He has done nothing in support of drilling in hotbeds of oil off the Gulf and off the Pacific. It may take 15-20 years down the road to get this oil on line; but does it honestly matter; any oil is good oil.

3. I am against ethanol.. Our food prices will go even higher if we continue to use it for fuel.

Let's invest in those running cars on water, this is the type of technology we need to run our future!

[Towntalk]

Westsider, I thought that was what we were talking about.

Like you, I don't drive, yet the gas prices affect me just as much as they do folks that drive.

Since I shop for the month, a friend of mine takes me shopping for groceries, and I pay him for gas.

I suppose that I could take a bus but I would have to go grocery shopping more often, and would spend more on bus fare per month.

During the month, I take advantage of the store across the street ... no need for the bus.

Its awful getting older, and complicates life no end.

[Towntalk]

I have a mom and pop store across the street from me, and I give them all the business I can as do most of our neighbors. They are really great folks, but a mom and pop neighborhood store like we had when I was a child are limited in what they handle. Unless they are a part of a group that have buying power behind them, most grocery destributers don't want to bother with them, preferring larger chains.

The store across the street is a part of the Red and White group so they do have buying power, but even then are limited in what they have, especially in fresh produce.

The reason why stores like the one across the street survive is customer loyality.

[northside lurker]

The key is convincing people to use public transportation and that is a tough nut to crack here in the valley.

Before WRTA can or will add routes, they must see a great enough demand.

We can talk till the cows come home at WRTA meetings, but talk doesn't translate at the bottom line in their accounting books.

Until the black ink replaces the red we'll see even more routes dropped and higher fares.

Both our state and federal representatives can help by infusing more cash into the system, but if the public insists on driving their own car all over the place, nothing will be gained.

If gas prices go up higher, does anyone seriously that the public will park their cars and take the bus? So far I have seen no indication of this happening yet. They will cut back on food, clothing and nights out before they'll take a bus.

A friend of mine told me once that he would rather slit both wrists and his throat before he'd take the bus. The strange thing about it is that he is otherwise a skinflint who would travel twenty miles to save a dime.

Instead of talking about how to force the cost of gas to go down, why aren't we talking about alternatives?

Mass-transit could be one alternative in the MV.  Because the service is currently so limited, it isn't a good alternative for many.

I am working shorter hours. (32h/week) But I am not really having any kind of money issues because I don't have to pay for a car. (or its gasoline)  If people are that unwilling to use mass-transit, then I say let them pay $4-$5 per gallon of gas.

[irishbobcat]

I do believe the time is coming when people will begin to really consider cutting back on driving.

I see people now beginning to look for work closer to home to save money.

I am also taking into account that our home heating bills and electricity will continue to rise.

I am also taking into account how food prices continue to rise. I pay $3.54 cents for a half-gallon of soy milk for my one son with autism.

Between gasoline, home heating, and food, people will begin to start to drive less and less.

If WRTA can not come up with a workable plan, we might begin to see the mom and pop neighborhood stores return.

If I can walk to a store to buy expensive groceries....then at least  can  feed my family instead of my Ford or Chevy.


Dennis Spisak

[Towntalk]

The key is convincing people to use public transportation and that is a tough nut to crack here in the valley.

Before WRTA can or will add routes, they must see a great enough demand.

We can talk till the cows come home at WRTA meetings, but talk doesn't translate at the bottom line in their accounting books.

Until the black ink replaces the red we'll see even more routes dropped and higher fares.

Both our state and federal representatives can help by infusing more cash into the system, but if the public insists on driving their own car all over the place, nothing will be gained.

If gas prices go up higher, does anyone seriously that the public will park their cars and take the bus? So far I have seen no indication of this happening yet. They will cut back on food, clothing and nights out before they'll take a bus.

A friend of mine told me once that he would rather slit both wrists and his throat before he'd take the bus. The strange thing about it is that he is otherwise a skinflint who would travel twenty miles to save a dime.

[rusty river]

I read an article that claimed that if US farmers turned all corn, soybeans, wheat,...etc. to the production of ethanol, that the amount of fuel produced would only be enough for one third of our nations automobiles and would only last 6 months. And although ethanol emits next to nothing in the way of CO2, it does emit high levels of a gas that contributes greatly to smog. Ethanol will cost about the same as standard gasoline, and as towntalk has pointed out and everyone has seen, food prices are going to skyrocket.

[irishbobcat]

First, we should renew the WRTA Tax or attend meetings to see how we can make mass transit work for the suburbs and the city.

Here's an article from the New York Times regarding mass transit now being used more because of rising gas prices....
===========================================================================================================

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

"In almost every transit system I talk to, we're seeing very high rates of growth the last few months," said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

"It's very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas."

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.

Here in Denver, for example, ridership was up 8 percent in the first three months of the year compared with last year, despite a fare increase in January and a slowing economy, which usually means fewer commuters. Several routes on the system have reached capacity, particularly at rush hour, for the first time.

"We are at a tipping point," said Clarence W. Marsella, chief executive of the Denver Regional Transportation District, referring to gasoline prices.

Transit systems in metropolitan areas like Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco reported similar jumps. In cities like Houston, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Charlotte, N.C., commuters in growing numbers are taking advantage of new bus and train lines built or expanded in the last few years. The American Public Transportation Association reports that localities with fewer than 100,000 people have also experienced large increases in bus ridership.

In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reports that ridership was up the first three months of the year by more than 5 percent on the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Railroad, while M.T.A. bus ridership was up 2.3 percent. New York City subway use was up 6.8 percent for January and February. Ridership on New Jersey Transit trains was up more than 5 percent for the first three months of the year.

The increase in transit use coincides with other signs that American motorists are beginning to change their driving habits, including buying smaller vehicles. The Energy Department recently predicted that Americans would consume slightly less gasoline this year than last — for the first yearly decline since 1991.

Oil prices broke yet another record on Friday, climbing $2.27, to $125.96 a barrel. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline reached $3.67 a gallon, up from $3.04 a year ago, according to AAA.

But meeting the greater demand for mass transit is proving difficult. The cost of fuel and power for public transportation is about three times that of four years ago, and the slowing economy means local sales tax receipts are down, so there is less money available for transit services. Higher steel prices are making planned expansions more expensive.

Typically, mass transit systems rely on fares to cover about a third of their costs, so they depend on sales taxes and other government funding. Few states use gas tax revenue for mass transit.

In Denver, transportation officials expected to pay $2.62 a gallon for diesel this year, but they are now paying $3.20. Every penny increase costs the Denver Regional Transportation District an extra $100,000 a year. And it is bracing for a $19 million shortfall in sales taxes this year from original projections.

"I'd like to put more buses on the street," Mr. Marsella said. "I can't expand service as much as I'd like to."

Average annual growth from sales tax revenue for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a rail service that connects San Francisco with Oakland, has been 4.5 percent over the last 15 years. It expects that to fall to 2 percent this year, and electricity costs are rising.

Other factors may be driving people to mass transit, too. Wireless computers turn travel time into productive work time, and more companies are offering workers subsidies to take buses or trains. Traffic congestion is getting worse in many cities, and parking more expensive.

Michael Brewer, an accountant who had always driven the 36-mile trip to downtown Houston from the suburb of West Belford, said he had been thinking about switching to the bus for the last two years. The final straw came when he put $100 of gas into his Pontiac over four days a couple of weeks ago.

"Finally I was ready to trade my independence for the savings," he said while waiting for a bus.

Brayden Portillo, a freshman at the University of Colorado Denver, drove from his home in the northern suburbs to the downtown campus in his Jeep Cherokee the entire first semester of the school year, enjoying the rap and disco music blasting from his CD player.

He switched to the bus this semester because he was spending $40 a week on gas — half his salary as a part-time store clerk. "Finally, I thought this is stupid," he said, and he is using the savings to pay down a credit card debt.

The sudden jump in ridership comes after several years of steady, gradual growth. Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation last year, up 2.1 percent from 2006. Transit managers are predicting growth of 5 percent or more this year, the largest increase in at least a decade.

"If we are in a recession or economic downturn, we should be seeing a stagnation or decrease in ridership, but we are not," said Daniel Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which serves the Boston area. "Fuel prices are without question the single most important factor that is driving people to public transportation."

Some cities are seeing spectacular gains. The Charlotte Area Transit System, which has a new light rail line, reported that it logged more than two million trips in February, up more than 34 percent from February 2007.

Caltrain, the commuter rail line that serves the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley, set a record for average weekday ridership in February of 36,993, a 9.3 increase from 2007, according to its most recent public calculation.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates a commuter rail system from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, posted a rise of more than 20 percent in rider numbers this March and April as monthly ridership climbed to 350,000.

"Nobody believed that people would actually give up their cars to ride public transportation," said Joseph J. Giulietti, executive director of the authority. "But in the last year, and last several months in particular, we have seen exactly that."
================================================================================================================

We must begin to do more car pooling.

And we must start looking at Renewable Energy sources as soon as possible. The sooner the better.  The bottom line is we have done very little even in the last 2 years in terms of research and development of renewable energy. We all thought gas would top out at $2 dollars....then we though $2.50.....then $3.00......then $3.50.....now $4 is closing in.......$5.00 could be here by Christmas....

Let's demand that the officials we begin electing to office have a commitment to renewable energy and not to oil company lobbyists and PACS......

Dennis Spisak


http://votespisak.tripod.com

[Towntalk]

And what do we do in the meantime?

How many years do we have to wait before we can use these new technologies?

People can't wait 10 years ... they have to put food on the table today. They have to pay utility bills today. They have to pay mortgages today. They have to put cloths on their backs today.

Try to teach a hungry child. Try to expect a teacher at his or her best when they are worried sick about mounting bills and little money to pay them. Try telling that to the father and mother who are already working two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.

I agree that we must adopt alternatives to oil, but I also know that it is going to take years before they become commonplace.

[Towntalk]

On the surface that is good news ... but ... and this is a big but ... not all of that oil will be coming to the United States. India and China will be getting a huge chunk of that increased production.

The big question short of switching to Ethanol etc. is how will we be able to get enough oil to drive down the price at the pump while we wait for new technology to come on line?

Whether we like it or not, our lives depend on oil, and until we can start taking advantage of the oil we already have (Offshore and in Alaska) we will not solve our problem.

We're already feeling the adverse effects of Ethanol production in higher food prices even though the corn used to make Ethanol is not the same as that we use as food. Because farmers can get more for the corn used to make Ethanol, they are switching from foods to the corn used in Ethanol, and to make up for it, we are having to import more food from abroad, and in a country that use to be the worlds breadbasket, that is totally unacceptable.

The Greens answer is to go vegetarian, they have no real answer for the rising cost of food to the consumer, yet like the rest of us, more of their disposable cash is going to put food on the table.

Let me ask this question, which is more important ... providing a healthy diet before your family, or dancing to the tune of the environmentalist?

We're told that we can't expect fuel costs to go down any time soon so that means less money in our pockets for groceries, and higher prices for food.

[irishbobcat]

Let's start investing in some Reseach and development for renewable energy!  Let's look for way's to slow our dependency on oil.

Solar, Wind Turbine, and Geothermal are ready to make a dent in our use of oil if we can elect leaders who will be progressive enough to
promote such renewable energy sources.

It's been working in Europe for the past 15 years.....

let's make it a priority to get the balls rolling here in Ohio and the U.S.

Dennis Spisak-Independent Green Party Candidate for State Representative-60 district


http://votespisak.tripod.com

[ytowner]

Good News
The White House announced that this July, they will stop sending oil to the reserves.

And Saudi Arabia announced they will increase output by some 300,000 barrels per day. Other OPEC nations are also calling for greater output.

Let's hope this will stop this huge spike in oil and we can keep it steady around $115-130 a barrel.